Here comes Puncturewala.com.

This is a discussion on Here comes Puncturewala.com. within Tyre & Alloy wheel Section, part of the Modifications & Accessories category; Please read the newsreport at :
Flat tyre? Call and get it fixed
Waiting to see it start service here ...

A bike does not have a spare tire. It takes me less than 10 mins to remove the tire and take it to a local puncture shop guy for a fix.

On a highway I have a spare tube and a kit to replace it.

Hate it when people cannot get their hands a little dirty.

oops, just realised it might be read as offensive. Its not meant to be. Just my rant. Maybe deleted if the mods feel its a bad rant.

How is this practical for doing in the city? Firstly you will need to carry tubes of 2 different sizes for front and rear. Then the toolkit. Also one would need a pump to inflate it! Where to keep all that in a bike???

Also you'd need to invest in 2 spare tubes and keep them... and I don't think they can be kept for too long unused... the rubber cud deteriorate.

How is this practical for doing in the city? Firstly you will need to carry tubes of 2 different sizes for front and rear. Then the toolkit. Also one would need a pump to inflate it! Where to keep all that in a bike???

Also you'd need to invest in 2 spare tubes and keep them... and I don't think they can be kept for too long unused... the rubber cud deteriorate.

Lucky me.
The Thunder Bird has the same tube for both the front and rear tires.
Have a foot pump and also the long screwdrivers that help remove the tube.
That is for the highway

In the city:
There is generally a puncture guy within 2 kms of almost every major road in Hyderabad.
So I simply remove the tire and take it to them for fixing it.
Either walk or get a lift or catch a rickshaw.

I wish the person luck in his endeavor. But then, is one really going to wait for 20 minutes (I would be surprised if this time line is kept!) and then get the wheels changed? It will take 10 minutes for a car and maybe 30 minutes for a UV.

But then, not all are comfortable with changing wheels. As for me, I would just change the wheels and get the puncture fixed with the next puncture shop. Faster solution for me.

This is a flawed business model. How do I know for sure? Well, roadside assistance is one of the ventures I had thought of starting my career with (6 - 7 years back). I was inspired by the AAA service in the States.

Factors not in favour:

1. Manufacturers offering their own road-side assistance packages. Free with new cars. Most of these will give you puncture / tyre replacement service too.

2. Modern high-quality tubeless tyres are less prone to punctures. Between the 4 of my cars, I've had a single puncture in the last 1 year. And if you do, there is always the spare wheel (pay a pappu 25 bucks and he'll mount the spare for you).

3. Puncturewala cannot repair my tubeless tyre puncture on the road; you need specialised equipment to remove the tyre from the alloy wheel.

4. Thus, we have to carry two tubes around. That is a short-term fix (running a tubeless tyre with tube).

5. Instead, I could just go to one of the several puncture shops and get a permanent fix (tubeless tyre repaired directly versus tube insertion). In the time that puncturewala.com sends someone to my car, I could have gone to a local tyrewalla and got the puncture fixed.

This is a flawed business model. How do I know for sure? Well, roadside assistance is one of the ventures I had thought of starting my career with (6 - 7 years back). I was inspired by the AAA service in the States.

Factors not in favour:

1. Manufacturers offering their own road-side assistance packages. Free with new cars. Most of these will give you puncture / tyre replacement service too.

2. Modern high-quality tubeless tyres are less prone to punctures. Between the 4 of my cars, I've had a single puncture in the last 1 year. And if you do, there is always the spare wheel (pay a pappu 25 bucks and he'll mount the spare for you).

3. Puncturewala cannot repair my tubeless tyre puncture on the road; you need specialised equipment to remove the tyre from the alloy wheel.

4. Thus, we have to carry two tubes around. That is a short-term fix (running a tubeless tyre with tube).

5. Instead, I could just go to one of the several puncture shops and get a permanent fix (tubeless tyre repaired directly versus tube insertion). In the time that puncturewala.com sends someone to my car, I could have gone to a local tyrewalla and got the puncture fixed.

I beg to differ here GTO.As far as bangalore is concerned I guess the ratio of vehicles running on tubeless to tubeones would be 1:5.And considering the population explosion on the bangalore roads, this amounts to millions.
Also usually to avoid the peak traffic, people take the NICE road or Ring roads where you will not see any public transport and no lifts too(after a few threads citing the hazard of giving lift) .And not to mention that these stretches of roads are devoid of any civilisation , forget the local punture repair guys.

And I had the experience of getting stuck on the hosur road(an (un)popluar highway) for more than an hour inspite of calling the maruthi service guys.And after one hour the reason they gave me was that they were looking on the other side of a road.What a dumb alibi

But IMHO, this might turn out to be a win win situation for both the punturewala as well as its customers,at least in bangalore.

I beg to differ here GTO.As far as bangalore is concerned I guess the ratio of vehicles running on tubeless to tubeones would be 1:5.And considering the population explosion on the bangalore roads, this amounts to millions.

The kind of person who gets a tubeless tires is IMHO more inclined to also spend a little more money and get the subscription.
no offence meant. unable to phrase this correctly and hope everyone understands the meaning.

Quote:

But IMHO, this might turn out to be a win win situation for both the punturewala as well as its customers,at least in bangalore.